r/BMWi3

I've had my 2017 Rex for almost 5 months now. After a Premium Retrofit upgrade adding legal limit ceramic tint all the way around was next. Now that the days are hitting low 90s I'm beginning to feel the 27% ceramic by itself isn't enough.

I'm wondering who has tinted the front windshield with clear ceramic? Any issues from doing it? Mainly I'm concerned about the camera getting bent out of shape over things.

The other thing has to do with tinting the sunroof glass, again anyone do it and have bad experience? My tint guy said he doesn't tint sunroof glass because they can cause the glass to shatter. I've never heard of such a thing but for a no receipt job I'm sure he'd do it. I made some block out panels to fit in there and they work OK but I'd rather just have 5% ceramic on there and be done with it.

I bought a 2017 BEV in ‘23.

I recently looked over the CARFAX report for the first time in a long time. I realized the 12v had never been replaced. 9 years and 57k miles.
glad I realized this and replaced it before I got stranded.

Changed my oil for the first time, and when I first opened the metal service bay cover (beneath the trunk floor panel) some of the screws just fell through to the washer without latching onto any thread. The second time I noticed that all but two screws didn't latch. It seems like they're losing some clip on the underside of the service bay cover that allows them to screw in. Anybody else experience this?

I'm seeing a local 2015 i3 w/ range extender, 118k miles on it, clean title, no accidents reported, personal use only, for $7k. I checked the dealership and all their cars are pretty cheap. Maybe they're all lemons? Maybe the dealership is going out of business?

What should I look for, to make sure it's not a complete scam?

Hi all. We inherited a 2014 Rex and although we are very grateful, the condition of the seats were/are terrible. We already had the car detailed and the stains unfortunately are still visible. Any recommendations on good and affordable seat covers? TIA.

Aside from the usual used car stuff like MOT, service history etc… what else do I look for?

Best model/ year for around £7/8k

How to check battery health buying privately? Whats the expected drop in battery health over time? Is there an accepted % drop in range overall for all battery sizes?

Any issues to be aware of?

Final question… what would you buy if you couldn’t get an i3?

Hi! I have a 2014 Rex with 5" front and 5.5" rear wheels. I'm planning to install Ecopia 175/55R20 in the front and S001 195/50R20 in the rear.

I've been reading a lot of consuming information, but wanted to understand if I can do this setup without any spacers, or are they mandatory? I understand they help improve stability, but I'm not sure if I've got the budget to spare at this moment.

About 3 weeks ago I purchased a 2016 i3 REX with ~45k miles from CarMax.

I drove the car about 2 weeks and fell in love with it. A check engine light popped (I did not read the codes myself). As I was still in the 30-day warranty period, I took it back to CarMax and they sent it to the BMW dealer for about a week to diagnose.

CarMax called me to tell that they would be initiating a buyback - the codes had to do with the AC compressor and the BMW dealer quoted $8k of work to repair (I never saw the quote/breakdown as this was all going through CarMax service). Based on what I have read about the catastrophic compressor failures on these cars the price is not so crazy to me if the compressor broke up into the battery heat exchanger.

What was unexpected is that (per what the BMW dealer told the CarMax service manager) there are no replacement AC compressors for the i3 in stock in the US, so they had to be shipped in from Germany - and that would somehow take 4-5 months to get here?

I'm definitely taking the buyback offer. Now I'm unexpectedly starting the car buying process all over again and trying to decide what to do next. Though this whole experience does make me a little nervous, I would love to consider buying another i3. But if what I am being told is true about availability/lead time of the AC compressor I don't think I'd be willing to roll the dice again as I can't have the car sit unusable for that long.

Has anyone else replaced their AC compressor recently or have the ability to check what the compressor availability is in the US? I'm trying to verify directly with the BMW dealer myself, but I figured someone else on here might have some helpful information in the meantime.

TL;DR - My recently purchased 2016 i3 REX borked and I'm being told it was catastrophic AC compressor failure. CarMax is buying the car back, and I am trying to decide if I'll buy another i3 or not. I'm being told replacement AC compressors must come from Germany and will take 4-5 months to get here. Is this lead time accurate, or was CarMax just trying to make the buyback look like the only option/the BMW dealer did not want to mess with this?

Hi All. I've been doing some reading here, but thought I would post and see what folks think.

We're gifting our 2014 i3 BEV to our son and daughter in law, and my understanding is that the DIL will be using it mostly to drive around town, much as we've been doing with it. We bought it used in 2016 with 19k miles on it and have only put about 20k miles on it during the 9.5 years we've had it, so it's just now sneaking up on 40k total.

The HVAC system is working great, no strange noises, etc. I always drive it in Eco Pro mode, and my wife either uses that or Eco Pro +, so the compressor is rarely going full blast. But the last thing I want to do is give it to them and then worry about them having an issue with it that could be really expensive to fix, so I'm considering having the system evacuated and recharged with refrigerant and lubricant, even though it's working fine (something I've always avoided with my other non-EV vehicles). What is the general consensus on this, please?

I'm also trying to sort out the best way to get it to them, about 180 miles of driving, and unfortunately there is one gap between chargers that is too far to risk, so I'm planning to trailer it because my understanding is that if I use a dolly I'd have to tow it backwards, which is an idea that for some reason I can't get comfortable with. But trailers are heavy and my truck is old, LOL, so we'll see how that all comes out. If I'm missing anything important, please advise. Thanks.

I'm looking for a few shops that works on i3's.

I live on the border between Fountain Valley & Santa Ana.

I've taken it once to Beemer & Benz in FV for a battery swap but they don't seem to work on them much.

I'd like to find a shop that will perform general work and maybe maintenance? And a body shop to fix some exterior issues.

Currently I would like to have the passenger side window as it clicks when you raise and lower the mirror, engine mounts and lately brakes, pads and bleed system.

I love my 2016 i3 REx, bought 2nd hand in the UK for £15k in 2019. It has now done ~93,000 miles and I was shocked to see its value had depreciated to between £4600-5400 (according to Carwow and Motorway). My question is, does this car (still) count as a luxury car for the purposes of a private/independent school bursary application? In these terms, this depreciation isn’t all bad news. But does that level of depreciation in value sound normal?